Real World Project Management: An Introduction

Everyone talks about project management, but what is it? Isn't project management just organization to get the work done? In this overview article, the first of an on-going series, project management expert Joseph Phillips delivers the big picture of project management.

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Ooohproject management. Everyone talks about project management, but
what is it? Isn't project management just organizing your little work to
get the big work done? Isn't project management really just a series of
events to create some thing, by some point, way off in some hazy future? Not
really.

To define project management, we first need to define what projects are.
Technically, a project is a short-term endeavor to create a unique
product or service. In practical terms, it is an assignment or undertaking to
create a deliverable that satisfies the mission of the project customers.

A project is a set of activities to create something that is outside of your
day-to-day operations. A project creates a unique deliverable. For example, if
your organization develops game software, the actual creation and development of
the code is a project. The manufacturing of the CDs, the Internet delivery, and
the technical support you provide to your customers is part of maintenance and
operations.

The difference is that one set of activities creates a unique deliverable;
the other centers on organizational process, day-to-day business, and support of
the organization's mission. This is true in disciplines other than IT:
Consider designing a car versus manufacturing a car; consider writing a book
versus printing a book; consider building a skyscraper versus maintaining a
skyscraper.

Projects have budgets, deadlines, and an agreed set of requirements for the
deliverable to be accepted by the customer.

The United States of Project Management

In my project management seminars I like to say that this point in the room
represents our current state; this is where our organization is today. We have
some opportunity that we want to seize. We have some problem that we want to
solve. Or there's technology that has leapfrogged our current equipment so
we need to improve our technical attributes. Where we are now is our current
state.

Then I'll stroll to a distant part of the room. This new location
represents where we want our organization to get to. This describes our desired
future state. Can you imagine how great our organization would be once we reach
this destination? Can you imagine the problem solved, the seized opportunity, or
the new technology and how it makes our business better? This spot represent our
desired future state.

The only way we can get from right here, our current state, to our desired
future state, which is way over there, is through project management. Project
management is about planning, doing, and ensuring that we've followed
our plan. Here's a key thought: the only way we can do project management,
effective project management, is to know where our desired future state
exists.

Effective project management is built on a solid foundation of planning. Then
the project team must execute the work according to plan. And the project
manager must control the work to ensure that the project plan was followed.
Plan. Do. Check. React. Project management, quite simply, is knowing where
we're going, planning on how we'll get there, and then delivering on
the promises within the plan.

Projects, all projects, have constraints. Have you ever inherited a project
that had to be done by a given deadline? Remember the Y2K scare that turned out
to be the Y2-OK yawn a few years ago? It was real tough to move that deadline.
January 1, 2000 was comingready or not.

Or have you ever managed a project that had a preset budget? Regardless of
how long it took, your project could not, must not, spend more than $750,000. Or
else. A pre-set budget might be calculated on how much cash is in the bank
account, the expected return on the project investment, or some other magic
formula such as the time value of money. The point is that a pre-set budget is
constraint.

Finally, you may have faced a project that had some very steep requirements.
Are you a public company? Then you've dealt with the Sarbane-Oxley Act. Or
if you're in health care, you've dealt with HIPAA. Or the regulations
you may have to follow in pharmaceutical, construction, manufacturing, and
countless other industries.

You may also have worked with a customer who said, "I don't care
how much it costs or how long it takes. I need the product to do this."
(Those are my favorite kinds of customers, by the way.) These steep requirements
are part of the project scope, and the project scope has to be met for the
project to be successful.

You've just read about the triple constraints of project management:
time, cost, and scope. The triple constraints of project management are
collectively called "The Iron Triangle." Imagine an equilateral
triangle. If you don't want to imagine take a look at Figure 1. The bottom
of the triangle represents scope, another side represents cost, and the last
side represents time.

For the project to be successful, the project must remain an equilateral
triangle. In other words, you can have a gigantic scope and a puny budget or a
weak schedule. For a project to be successful, each side of the Iron Triangle
must remain in proportion to the other sides if your customer wants a scope
that's so big (hold your arms out real wide). And their budget is only this
big (now bring your arms in real close together). A big ol' scope and tiny
little budget mean just one thing: It ain't gonna happen.

The same is true with the schedule. To achieve the project's scope,
there must be enough time to plan and execute the project. Unrealistic
expectations on the schedule usually lead to waste, rework, frustrations, and a
decline in morale. In some instances, they might also lead to cheap tequila.